When She Smiles
by Sir Perfluous
Summary: It's April Fools Day. A friendly wager has been made, and the Hotshot Hero is about to face his greatest challenge yet... making a girl laugh? How hard can that possibly be?


**Disclaimer:**  
**This probably goes without saying, but I do not own Power Rangers, its characters, or any of its related intellectual property. I'm just a humble fan trying to salute the show.**

* * *

"I don't believe a word you're saying." Riley Griffin huffed waving a dismissive hand.

"Well you should." Shelby Watkins replied leaning back in her chair with a smug grin."You're just mad because you know I'm right, and you don't want to admit it."

Riley narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Oh come on! What you're telling me is completely illogical. Just because you've never seen Ms. Morgan laugh, doesn't prove that that she's some kind of weirdo or alien."

"Oh yeah, smart guy? Well let me tell you something…" Shelby began to retort.

Chase Randall rolled his eyes and quietly drank from his soda as he sat between the two youngest Rangers of their team, listening to them bicker. Work was over for the day, and the three sat at a corner table in the Amber Beach Museum's café, relaxing for a little while before closing time. Thankfully, there were only a few museum visitors still milling about, completely oblivious to the petty argument erupting from the Rangers' table. As Chase continued to idly nurse his drink, he refrained from talking, hoping not to get sucked into such a silly debate. Still, he had to admit, the topic was rather interesting.

Kendall Morgan had always been a bit of a mystery to the Rangers since the day they had formed. Even now, she was still an enigma. It seemed she always preferred to bury her nose in engineering manuals or labor away over their equipment in the lab, instead of spending some time getting to know the newer members of their team. He remembered back to when he had first met Kendall and Koda, and how for a time, the three of them came to form a strong, if unusual friendship. But that was a story for another day. Even though he knew she had feelings buried deep down somewhere, she rarely if ever opened up about them to him, much less expressed them. Considering the two of them had been friends for a while now, it always did seem a bit odd to Chase, and Shelby's questions had only begun to spark his curiosity again.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a hand waving in front of his face. "Hello! Earth to Chase?" Shelby called with a hint of annoyance.

"He was probably thinking up a list of which girls to get rejected by this week." Riley cut in with a smirk.

Chase ignored Riley's comment and smiled apologetically, "Sorry, what were you guys saying?"

Shelby shrugged, "Well, you and Koda are the ones who have known her the longest. We wanted to know if you've ever seen Ms. Morgan laugh."

Chase paused and gave a thoughtful look, then shrugged. "To be honest... no. I don't think I have."

Shelby looked to Riley victoriously, as he crossed his arms with a grumble. "That still doesn't prove anything."

Shelby pouted and gave a thoughtful look for a moment before breaking into another bright smile. "All right then. How would you like to test our theories? Tomorrow is April Fools Day. I'll bet you $10 and garbage duty for a week that you can't make Ms. Morgan laugh."

"What? Seriously?" Riley sputtered. "That's such a dumb idea! You don't really expect me to…"

"Hey, that's the deal! Take it or leave it." Shelby answered giving him an expectant look.

As Riley floundered, trying to come up with a counter argument, Chase put his drink down firmly and answered, "I'll do it." The two younger Rangers stopped and turned in surprise.

"What? You're really serious?" Riley asked.

Chase rose to his feet and flashed a cocky smile. "Sure. A lovely lady's emotions are on the line. Who better to handle this dangerous task than the Hotshot Hero right? Challenge accepted."

"Wait!" Riley interrupted. "You don't even have a plan! How exactly are you even going to make Ms. Morgan laugh?"

"No worries mate." Chase replied ruffling Riley's hair like an older sibling would do to his little brother. "Make sure Shelby doesn't decide to go back on her bargain. You just leave the rest to me."

With that, he gave his two friends a wave and cheerfully headed out of the café. While he did, Shelby stuck her tongue out behind his back. "It doesn't count if you get slapped either!" she called after him.

* * *

Early the next morning before the museum opened, Chase ambled into the Main Hall toward a small indoor fountain at its center. He was dressed in his coveralls and whistled a tune to himself. Behind him, he wheeled a bucket of soapy water and a wet mop. He knew that around this time, Kendall would be making the rounds with her checklist of things to do before the day started. She was a creature of habit and in a minute or so, she would be coming down the stairs toward the fountain.

Nearby, he saw Shelby and Riley taking cover behind a large fossil display, watching to see if he could really win the bet he made yesterday. As he caught Shelby intently watching, Chase gave a flirtatious wink and trigger finger thumbs up, earning an annoyed frown back from her.

Pulling out the mop, he popped in his ear-buds and began to mop the floor, pretending to look busy. A few moments passed and as if on cue, Kendall walked down the steps of the second floor toward the fountain in the Main Hall, clipboard and pen in hand. Glancing around, she noticed Chase nearby, busily mopping up with his back turned.

"Good morning Chase." She called as she briskly approached. "I'm glad to see you starting so early today." He continued working with his back turned, seemingly oblivious of her greeting or presence. She gave a confused expression for a moment before noticing his ear-buds, so she reached out to tap him on the shoulder.

As she did, Chase whirled around wearing a red rubber clown nose and the most ridiculous expression he could make on his face. "April Fools!" he called loudly in an equally ridiculous voice. Kendall gave a startled gasp and jumped back a foot, almost losing her clipboard.

"Chase! You startled me!" she exclaimed with a reproachful frown.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that Kendall," he answered innocently. "It's April Fool's Day and I just thought I'd have a little fun with you."

"Well, we're not going to have a lot of time for fun today," she replied. "In fact, there's a lot to do before we open, especially with the new exhibits going up. Oh, and could you lose the clown nose? You'll scare away visitors." Checking her clipboard, she continued, "I was actually coming to look for you because there are a couple things I might need your help with. Do you have a few minutes?"

From behind the display case, Riley and Shelby shot him a quizzical look, but Chase coolly waved them off. Even if Plan A hadn't worked, he still had a few contingency plans left. Chase gave a sly grin and gestured Kendall down the hall. "Of course. How can I help?"

* * *

As the two of them walked from the Main Hall toward the café, Kendall began going down her laundry list of chores, occasionally prompting Chase to answer with a reluctant yes or no answer. He might as well pretend to be interested in the tasks, he thought to himself. While he was glad Kendall actually trusted him with quite a few things, he knew there was still no way he was going to be able to get to all of them today.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I'm going to need you to gas up the jeep for that dig we planned next week." she said making an extra note to herself with her pen. Bingo! That was the prompt he was waiting for.

"No worries Kendall." he replied with a grin. "I actually took care of that yesterday afternoon."

She looked to him in surprise and gave a pleased nod. "Oh? That's great. Then, can I have the keys back?"

Chase stopped for a moment, feigning ignorance and began digging furiously through his pockets. "Hmm, now where did I put those keys? I know I had them somewhere here." As he searched, Kendall glanced at her wristwatch, trying not to appear too impatient.

Moments later, Chase looked up to see Koda emerge from the café kitchen putting on a shirt and getting ready for work. "Ah! Koda! Just the caveman I wanted to see!" Chase grinned throwing a friendly arm around his burly friend. "Mate, I could really use your help about now."

"Help?" Koda answered curiously. "What... is problem?"

"Well," Chase continued, "I seem to have misplaced the keys to the jeep and I think you just might have them."

Koda's brow furrowed in confusion. "I... do?"

"Yes. I think they're right... here!" Chase answered, reaching up near Koda's ear and behind the caveman's long shaggy hair. In one swift motion, Chase pulled a slight-of-hand trick and produced a white daisy flower out of thin air. As Koda looked on in complete astonishment of the magic trick, Chase waggled his eyebrows, suavely offering the flower to Kendall, waiting for some kind of reaction.

Kendall sighed and brushed the flower away, holding out her hand for the keys again. "Chase, can you please stop goofing around? We don't have time for this."

Chase glanced over to where Shelby and Riley had taken up a new hiding spot and saw them making mocking faces at him. With a sigh, he reached into his pocket, then handed over the keys. As Kendall pocketed the keys, she led him away from the café. "All right, now there's one last thing I need to check on with you. Let's get moving." As the two left the café area, Koda slowly turned around and walked back into the kitchen with a confused look on his face, fearfully sticking his finger in his ears looking for any more flowers growing out of them.

* * *

As they walked across to the other end of the museum, Chase nonchalantly wheeled the bucket and mop along, grinning to himself. So what if the last two attempts didn't quite work out? After all, the third time was always a charm, and this next try would certainly do the trick. Glancing over to Kendall, he saw her face buried in her list.

"Ok, the new velociraptor exhibit is opening today. Did you make sure the replica skeletons have been set up properly?

Chase grinned and gestured over toward the open exhibit. "Of course. See for yourself."

Kendall looked up and her eyes went wide in shock. Standing in the raptor exhibit were three dinosaur skeletons, except they were showing off some unusual personality. One raptor wore a large sombrero and clutched a pair of maracas in its claws, while the second sported a pink feather boa and sunglasses. To Kendall's horror, the third raptor stood with a pair of boxer shorts hanging out of its jaws looking like it had eaten someone.

"Well?" Chase prompted. "Pretty funny, huh?"

Kendall whirled around on him. "No, it isn't! Fix this right now!" Raising his hands in mock surrender, Chase stepped forward and collected the items off the skeletons. As he picked up the boxer shorts, Kendall eyed them cautiously, "Those aren't…"

"Mine? No." Chase chuckled. "These are Tyler's. Shelby actually let me borrow them, but don't even ask me why she had Tyler's underwear in the first place." Nearby a clump of decorative ferns shook as Riley restrained an outraged Shelby from blowing their cover.

"What?" she hissed. "I never…I'll kill him!"

"Did you hear something?" Kendall asked suddenly, glancing around in the direction of the noise.

"No. I'm sure it's nothing." Chase answered quickly taking her by the shoulders and leading her away from Shelby and Riley's hiding spot. This was looking bad. He thought that prank would work for sure, and instead, the only thing he had been succeeding at was getting Kendall even more wound up. This called for drastic measures… the last ace up his sleeve.

As they walked, Kendall tried to shrug off his hand. "Chase, let go. We've already fallen behind schedule and I'm going to be late."

With an innocent look on his face, Chase directed her to a cushioned bench near the raptor exhibit and gently took the clipboard from her hand, "You're right Kendall. I'm really sorry about all the trouble. Tell you what. Since I've stressed you out enough today, why don't you just sit down and relax for a minute while I take care of the rest of this, yeah?"

She protested for a moment before finally giving a resigned sigh and sitting down on the bench. As she did, a long rippling fart sound escaped from the seat, echoing in the hall. Chase held his breath as Kendall quietly reached underneath the padded bench and removed the whoopee cushion he had planted there earlier in the morning. She slowly looked at it for a moment before glaring up at him angrily. "Chase Randall! I've had it up to here with your pranks!"

She rose suddenly and advanced on him, removing her glasses. Chase desperately backpedaled toward the exhibit, suddenly intimidated by the furious little scientist. "Wait! Kendall, don't be mad. Please, just let me explain… err…. I'm sorry!"

She continued to back him into the raptor exhibit, beginning a full on tirade. "Sorry's not going to cut it! You've done nothing but clown around all morning, causing chaos. If you aren't going to take your job seriously, then so help me I'll…"

At that moment, Chase unwittingly stepped backward into the rolling wet mop bucket he had left nearby. Suddenly caught off balance, Chase flailed desperately in the air then shifted his weight to try and regain his balance. Soapy water splashed as he spun around in an awkward one legged pirouette. Kendall stopped her rant and watched as Chase planted his other foot and kept from falling over. With a surprised look, Chase breathed a sigh of relief and tried to play it off as nothing.

"Excuse me a moment." He said calmly reaching down to try and to pull his foot from the bucket. As he did, his foot stuck for a second and Chase found himself losing his balance and toppling over backwards into one of the raptor skeletons.

A loud crash echoed in the museum hall as Chase sat up, dazed and covered in raptor bones. A few seconds went by before he realized that he was wearing the raptor skull on top of his head like some kind of silly hat. As he removed the skull, he heard a stifled snort and looked up in surprise. There before him was Kendall Morgan with a bright smile on her face, trying her best to hold back a laugh. It was a strange and shocking sight… a little terrifying, but at the same time, also very cute. Chase sat dumbfounded for a moment, thinking how pretty she looked when she smiled. As their eyes met, she quickly put her hand over her mouth and turned away, making a sound as if to clear her throat.

Chase slowly rose to his feet and dusted himself off before assuming his own little grin. "Well, would you look at that? Miss Kendall Morgan actually does have a sense of humor."

She turned back toward him, wearing a composed face again. The previous anger, had completely subsided. "Of course I do," she replied primly, "But I wasn't laughing."

"Are you sure?" Chase chuckled playfully.

Kendall fixed him with a neutral look and put her glasses back on. "The raptor exhibit needs to be cleaned up. We can worry about putting that other skeleton back together tomorrow."

As she turned to leave, Chase surprised himself and gently caught her arm, stopping her. "Kendall, wait." She turned to face him, wearing a curious look and he paused a moment, his words just coming out spontaneously now, "You… you look brilliant when you smile. You should really do it more often."

She gave a surprised expression, completely caught off guard by his genuine and unexpected compliment. For a moment, Chase almost thought he saw her checks turn a slight shade of pink. "Oh, I... umm… thanks." she replied sheepishly, suddenly at a loss for words. Awkwardly gesturing toward the door, she quickly turned to go. "I should… umm… yeah."

Chase stood with a bemused expression as he watched Kendall scramble to gather her things and make a hasty exit. Typically when paying girls compliments, Chase Randall was used to either seeing them gush… or getting slapped in the face by them. To render a pretty girl nearly incapable of speech... well, this was definitely a new one for him.

Moments later, he was joined by the two younger Rangers who emerged from their hiding places. "What was that all about?" Shelby asked in confusion. "What did you just say to make Ms. Morgan walk away with such a weird look on her face?"

Chase simply shrugged and picked up the fallen the mop nearby. "Nothing she doesn't already know."

While Chase gathered his things, Riley turned to Shelby, "Now, about that bet… When Chase took a spill, I definitely heard Ms. Morgan make a noise that sounded like a laugh."

Shelby sighed and grudgingly dug in her pocket. Pulling out a 10 dollar bill, she held it out to Chase, "Well, a deal is a deal I guess."

Chase shook his head and put the money back in Shelby's hand. "Keep it."

Shelby frowned a moment and looked at him in confusion. "What? You won the bet. Why are you..."

"Because I didn't win the bet." He corrected her as he calmly leaned against the mop. "I never actually got Kendall to laugh. But that's all right..."

As Shelby and Riley exchanged puzzled looks, Chase took one last glance back toward the retreating form of Kendall, and gave a warm smile in her direction. "I still got the next best thing."

* * *

**A/N:**  
**My first ever fanfic and I thought it turned out pretty well. I hope it made you smile too!  
**


End file.
